Georgia State Cited as National Leader In Using Data to Drive Student Success

Media Contact

Andrea Jones

ATLANTA—Georgia State University has been recognized by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) as one of 14 public higher education institutions leading student success through the effective use of student-level data.

The APLU and IHEP issued a case study today (March 15) detailing how Georgia State has used data to diagnose barriers to student progress and to implement targeted advising interventions. These efforts have resulted in improved course completion rates in science and math along with higher graduation rates for low-income and minority students.

“Georgia State continues to be recognized not only for our creative use of data but for the real difference that we are making in the lives of students,” said Timothy M. Renick, vice provost and vice president for enrollment management and student success at Georgia State.

“The APLU/IHEP study shows that, by using analytics to cut the time it takes students to complete their degrees, Georgia State has helped saved students and their families more than $10 million in tuition and fees over the last year alone.”

The study highlighted:

The university’s GPS Advising system, which uses 10 years of student data to help identify when students are at risk for going off track academically, including taking the wrong classes – leading to more expense and delaying graduation.

Georgia State’s Summer Success Academy, where students who performed poorly in certain high school classes jump-start their college careers by attending a seven-week summer program before the start of fall courses, earning college credits while getting support through tutoring, advising, financial literacy and academic skills programs.

Panther Retention Grants, small grants used to help students bridge financial gaps in paying tuition and fees.

Georgia State’s graduation rate has improved by 22 percent since 2003, with Latino, African-American, low-income and first-generation students now all graduating at rates at or above that of the student body overall.

The university now graduates more Hispanic, Asian, first-generation and low-income students with bachelor’s degrees than any other university in Georgia, and for the last four years, it has conferred more bachelor degrees to African-Americans than any other non-profit college or university in the United States.